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Castleford caretaker coach Danny Orr praised his side after they came from behind to beat Widnes

Castleford caretaker coach Danny Orr praised his side's spirit after they came from behind to defeat Widnes Vikings.

Last Updated: 13/04/13 8:45pm

Danny Orr: Delighted with his side's battling spirit against Widnes

Hooker Adam Milner crossed for the winning try 13 minutes from time as the Tigers ended a seven-match losing run at the Wish Communications Stadium before surviving a late onslaught from the Vikings.

"I am a very relieved, happy man. It was a massive relief to win because it was very tense with two minutes to go," said Orr, who led the Tigers for the first time in the wake of Ian Millward's sacking this week.

"It is something for us to build on. I thought we defended really well in the second half to keep Widnes scoreless."

Orr was particularly pleased with the performances of hookers Milner and Daryl Clark and young winger James Clare.

"Daryl Clark has been ill and has not trained all week. He had to go to hospital," added Orr.

"My idea was to start with Adam Milner and then get half an hour into the game and bring Daryl on to speed us up a bit.

"Then for the last 20 minutes bring Milner back on and move Clark to loose forward where he can still cause problems. I thought both of them played really well. They really got us going forward.

Outstanding

"James Clare has come in for a bit of criticism this year because he has made a few errors and he knows that, but I thought today he was probably one of our best players.

"It was an outstanding performance from the young kid so I was really pleased for him."

But Orr refused to comment on rumours that England stand-off Rangi Chase had played his final game for the club against Widnes after he was linked with a move to NRL side St George Illawara.

"I've absolutely no idea if that was Rangi's goodbye. There are rumours going about but that's part of the club that doesn't really involve me," said Orr.

"If Rangi is playing and is in the team that's my department and if he's not Steve Gill (Castleford chief executive) will deal with it."

Widnes coach Denis Betts was magnanimous in defeat after seeing his side score four tries in 13 minutes in the first half as they recovered from 12-0 down to lead 26-16 at the break before falling away in the second period.

"We are disappointed with our second half display. We got a little bit too cautious in the second period," said Betts.

"We looked like a side who didn't want to lose rather than a side that wanted to go on and win the match. I thought Castleford fed off the crowd and they had nothing to lose.

"I didn't think it was a great game - it was exciting - but I didn't think we played that well. We were pretty average. We clicked into gear in the first half but then we just got caught up in the emotion.

"I am really pleased for Danny Orr. I've known him a long time and he's come up with what we expected and what you thought would happen. He's got a response from the team.

"Castleford came out with passion and energy and we couldn't match that enthusiasm. We just lost the battle of emotion and attitude. Castleford fed off the crowd and they fed off each other really well."